Irene at the Maker Fair.

My name is Irene and I love arts and crafts. As a child I loved to camp with my large family, make things from scraps, paint pictures and write stories.

Growing up in Albany, California, I saw the Emeryville mudflat sculptures almost every day from the freeway. These whimsical, wooden things mystified and inspired me. I thought about making one myself, but I was too little. In school, we often made things from scraps, like decorated crowns out of construction paper, papier-mâché puppets out of newspapers strips, and wooden baskets out of popsicle sticks. continue reading